Russian Art Week returns to London despite political challenges

Turnover at sales hit by impact of international sanctions but it’s not all bad news, says Theodora Clarke, the event's director.

Russian Art Week will once
again take centre stage in the British capital in late May and early June in a
demonstration of the unifying power of art. London continues to be a hub for
Russian art and culture. The fair takes place 29 May – 5 June and will include
major sales of Russian art at the leading auction houses accompanied by a
varied program of Russian cultural events.

Recent political tensions
have affected sales and we saw the impact of economic sanctions at the last
event in November 2014, when we witnessed a 37 percent decrease in sales compared
with the same period in 2013 – the lowest result since summer 2012. However,
despite a reduction in spending by collectors, there have been several highlights,
including the sale of Valentin Serov’s 1910 Portrait of Maria Zetlin at Christie’s.
The painting fetched £9.2 million, making it the most expensive painting ever
sold in a Russian art sale and Christie’s the current leader amongst the
auction houses with a 49.7 percent market-share. The international situation
makes it difficult to forecast the results of upcoming sales, but it’s likely that major
quality works by significant artists with good provenance will continue to do
well.

Russian Art
Week is to provide a great opportunity to discover new names as well as to enjoy
the classics. The major auction houses continue to offer remarkable Russian art
works and this summer is no exception. Bonhams will present Voilier et
coquillage, a late still-life by Alexandra Exter, a delicately painted landscape
by Ivan Pokhitonov, and a early 20th century Moscow-made silver-gilt
presentation kovsh - an oval shaped traditional Russian drinking vessel - decorated
with shaded cloisonné enamel.

Alexandra Exter, Voilier et coquillage, 1935. Source: Bonhams

Christie’s will offer
several unique pieces of decorative art, including a lavishly decorated
two-color gold-mounted guilloché enamel desk clock, a wonderful example of the
two most popular techniques used by the Fabergé workshop. Painting highlights
of the upcoming sale at Christie’s include Arsenal Hill at night (1907-1908), a
rare work by Niko Pirosmani, the proclaimed Georgian Primitivist artist and a
unique group of four works by Filipp Malyavin, including a large work in oil Baba
on a swing. The provenance of Malyavin’s work can be traced to the daughter of the
artist and serves as a magnificently
vivid example of Malyavin's beloved peasant scenes, which showcases the beauty
of the Russian countryside.

Filipp Maliavin, Baba on a Swing. Source: Christie's

Two magnificent masterworks
by Nicholas Roerich presented at the sale also deserve a special
mention: White and heavenly from the series His
Country and The Host of Gesar Khan, both reflect themes
inspired by Roerich’s Central Asian expedition.

Hosting three sales of Russian art in June, Sotheby’s
will offer a diverse selection of Russian art from the 19th and 20th
centuries, including an oriental landscape by Ivan Aivazovsky, Evening in
Cairo, 1870, and a gouache by Pavel Tchelitchew, Bullfight, 1934. With a
special focus on Russian decorative art, the dedicated sale’s highlights include
an Imperial silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel triptych icon, 1886, by
Khlebnikov, presented to Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, later Emperor
Nicholas II, as well as an Imperial
hardstone figure of a parrot by Denisov-Uralski, St Petersburg, made in
1913-1914 for Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Pavel Tchelitchew, Bullfight, 1934. Source: Sotheby's

At auctioneers MacDougall’s
two charming depictions of Russian nature by well-known masters will be
presented – Autumn on the Krestovsky Island, 1892, by Ivan Shishkin
and Spring in a Village, 1920, by Konstantin Korovin, in which both masters succeed in conveying the intimacy of
nature in Russia. Among other impressive lots are works by two Russian émigré artists – Pavel
Tchelitchew’s Portrait of My Father, 1939, and Nikolai
Fechin’s Peasant Woman Sitting on a Trunk, circa 1910.

Anyone interested in contemporary Russian art
should head to Maxim Boxer’s sale at Erarta Galleries London, which is holding its third themed auction, this time co-curated
with artist Leonid Tishkov. It will examine the tradition of “CartOOn-like art”
in Russia, tracing the evolution of its visual language and distinctive humour from the lubok imagery of the 18th century to contemporary pictorial art, comics and animation. With some 50 artworks, the
auction will bring together the variety of approaches
to cartoon-like
aesthetics, presenting a range of techniques, developed by contemporary Russian artists, including Pavel
Pepperstein, Igor Makarevich, the “Blue Noses” group, Konstantin Zvezdochetov
and the “Mitki”.

In addition to the
auctions, a program of Russian cultural events will take place across London.
To celebrate Russian Art Week at Erarta Galleries Tishkov brings his Private
Moon to London for the first time since 2013.

Another London gallery Brun
Fine Art will showcase a collection of Russian art by exhibiting, among other
objects, a beautiful pair of 19th century armchairs in gilt bronze
and faux malachite and a fine 19th century gilt bronze and malachite
ink set.

Other exhibitions include Tate
Modern’s show dedicated to 20th century Russian émigré Sonia Delaunay, a
leading abstract painter and Pushkin House’s photography exhibition of Pulitzer
Prize-winning photographer James Hill, Russian Veterans, marking the 70th
anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Studio Voltaire will present a
show of works by Sanya Kantarovsky called Apricot Juice and inspired by
Mikhail Bulgakov’s enigmatic novel The Master and Margarita.

A range of concerts and
performances will complement the visual arts programme of Russian Art Week. The
renowned singer Hibla Gerzmava will present a selection of the best Italian and
Russian opera at Opera Holland Park. On the South Bank pianist Alexei Volodin
will be making an appearance at Queen Elizabeth Hall and English National Opera
will present The Queen of Spades, a new production of
Tchaikovsky’s dramatic opera about greed and obsession.